Apparatus for drying material



Dec. 7 1926.

F. A. SECORD APPARATUS FOR DRYING MATERIAL Filed April Patented Dec. 7,1926.

uNiTann STATES 1,609,88& l

PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIQK A. SECORD, 0F PORTLAND, MAINE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TOCHARLES HENRY PETERS AND ONE-THIRD TO ALEXANDER PIERCE PATERSON, BOTH OFST.

JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK.

APPARATUS FORDRYING MATERIAL.

`Application led April 8, 1922. Serial No. 550,644.

This invention relates to apparatus for drying materials.

An object of the invention is to provide au apparatus for economicallyand rapidly drying materials such, for example, as last blocks. Theinvention will best be understood by referring to the accompanyingdrawings which disclose, merely for illustrative purposes. oneembodiment of-apparatus for carrying out the invention, wherein:

Fig. lv is a sectional plan view of the apparatus Fig. 2 is a transversevertical section thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken longitudinally through the base of theapparatus substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. l,` v

'Ihe present invention contemplates the production of an apparatus fordrying materials such for example as last blocks and clay products bythe careful control of the temperature upon all sides of a mass of thematerial whereby one section of the mass may have a greater or lessapplication of heated or cooled drying medium relatively to othersections to insure the uniform dryin ar of the entire mass and toprevent waste due to improper treatment of one section or another of themass. To these ends t-he invention involves a casing 1 having an outerwall Q composed of any suitable material and an inner wall 3 extendingentirely around the interior of 'said outer wall so as to forminsulating compartments or chambers 4, 5, Q and 7 respectivelyconstituting the four walls of the apparatus, said chambers beingseparated from each other by suitable partitions such as shown at 8. The

inner walls may likewise be formed of any suitable material butpreferably they are composed of two layers of sheathing as indicatedat'9 and 10 which are separated by a layer of some appropriatemoisture-proc substance 11.

The inner walls 3 in the present example eatend only art` way up asshown at 1.2, although the invention is not limited to this arrangementthe spaces between said lnner wall and the outer wall being alsoterminated and closed by horizontal partitions 13 extending entirelyaround the casing.

The dimensions of the casing 1 may obvlously be varied to accord withthe particular purpose for which it is to be used or to accord with thecapacity desired. ln the present example the casing is shown as of asize sufficient to enclose a small pile of lasts or other material suchas are shown in dotted lines at 14. The top of the casing l is here- 1nshown as consi-sting ofa slanting roof 15 and arranged near the peakthereof in the front wall of the casing is a pivoted door 1G pivoted atits lower edge to be opened outwardly to permit the escape of the vaporrising from the material that is being dried within the casing.

By providing the double or chamberen side walls of the Acasing ashereinbefore described the material that is being dried will not,beexposed to uneven atmospheric conditions, in fact the spaces between theinner and outer walls will form insulating regions which prevent onevside or section of the material from drying more rapidly than anotherwhen the latter section of material faces a side of the casing againstwhich a strong Wind may be blowing or which side may beccolder thananother by reason of the fact that the sun is not shining thereon.Furthermore said double walls, by providing such insulatingregions,'will elminate condensation forming upon said inner walls which,if permitted to take place, would result in lowering the temperature ofthe portions of the material that is being dried which are near to saidwalls while that portion Within the center of the pile would not 'be atall affected by such lowering of the surrounding temperature.

To still further insure the elimination of chilling effects upon theexterior of the casing acting through the side walls thereof means areprovided for tempering the contents of the chambers 4, 5, 6 and 7independently of each other to the end that the face f of the materialwithin the casing which faces toward the side thereof against which astrong cold wind or a warm wind may be blowing or upon which the sun maybe shining will not vary or be exposed to any different temperature thanare any of the other faces of said pile of material. These temperingmeans consist of pipe lines 17, 18, 19 and 20 connected respectivelywith any suitable source of heat such as a steam pipe 21 and extendingrespectively into or through the chambers 4, 5, 6 and 7 valves 22 beingarranged in said pipe lines respectively to open or close communicationbetween said pipe lines and the supply pipe.

There may betimes, however, when the temperature is higher at one sideof the casing than it should be and instead of increasing thetemperature of the ot-her side to correspond with the high temperatureit is preferable to reduce the excessive temperature so that it willmore nearly conform with the lower temperature of the other side. Tothis end the pipe lines 17, 18, 19 and 20 are provided with connectionsto a brine supplying pipe 23, valves 24 being interposed between saidpipe lines 'and said brine pipe 23 for opening or closing communicationtherebetween. 'lhe blocks of material to be dried are placed orsupported upon a perforated floor 25 having perforations 26vplaced atsuitable distances apart through which a drying medium may be suppliedto the blocks piled thereabove.

Obviously the temperature of the 'drying medium will vary ,from hot tocold during the drying operation,-conseqnently means are provided tosupply a lcold drying medium, a hot drying medium or a dryingsmediumvarying in temperaturerfrom hot to cold. The hot drying medium ispreferably applied through a series ot especially constructed steamsupplying means which are arranged beneath the perforated door 25 withina chamber 27said means preterably consisting ot' two elongated squareheaders 28 and 29 arrangedy one above the other preferably one restingupon the other,

the lower one being 'supportedy along the bottom of the chamber 27. Theheaders 28 and 29 extend preferably transversely of the chamber 27 andat one end of. 'the casing, one ot these headers constituting the intakeand the other the ldischarge 'for 'the heating coils. Communication isprovided -between the headers 28 and 29 herein byA two substantiallyhorizontal series of pipe 30 and 31 extending lengthwise of the chamber27, the series 30 being connected with the header 28 while the Series 31is oonnected with the .header 29. The pipes of the series 30 'areconnected by means ,of elbows 32 with the pi es of the series 31.

The distance from t e center of the header' 28 to the center ,of theheader 29 withv which centers the axes of the pipes of the series 30 andthose of the series 31 respectively intersect is greater than thedistance between the centers of the pipes of said series at the endsthat are joined together by the' elbows 32. Consequently thetwo seriesof pipes will not be exacty parallel b ut instead the pipes of theseries 30 will incline downwardly slightly from the`header 28 and asimilar inclination will be given to the pipes of the series 31. Henceany water 'that may result from condensation of steam will have freepassa e from the upper head- K er -to the lower hea er Nand not betrapped by said pipes. Supports 33 and 34 are provided atsuitableintervals alone' said pipes to maintain them at the desire angles.

As soon as the air orfdrying medium whatever its character is heated bythe Steam within the pipes of the series 30 and 31 it will pass upwardlythrough the openings or perforations 36 into Contact with supply ot airat two separated points 40 and A 41 from a common blower 42. Each of theair ducts 35, 36, 37 and 38 is provided with a damper 43 whereby thesupply of air to that duct may be cut oil irrespective of the others.The blower l2 may obviously receive its supply of air directly'rom theatmosphere but in view of the ,fact that it is often desirable to varythe degrees ot temperature ofthe drying :medium means are provided for'tempering the air before it reaches the blowerand as an example ot suchmeans l have' shown two air ducts 44 and 45-Which uniteat 46 to connect'with the blower 42'. 'l

Air to the duct fil-l is `provided through a chamber 47 preferablycontaining coils of steam pipe 48 in communication with'the main steamsupply. pipe 2l, a valve 49 being provided to regulatefor entirely cutolf the supply of steam'to said chamber 47. The duct 45 receives its`supply of air throng!` a cas-ing 50 within'which are` coilsl connectedwith the main brine pipe 23, a valve 52 being arranged betweenl thelcoils 51 and Ithe air pipe 23 so as to regulate or entirely shut oli'communication A therebetween. Dampers 53 and 54 arev provided in thepipes44 and 45 respectively whereby hot -ing chamber but `naiauallyfwiththese alone a much longer-time will be`required to dry the entire mass:for invariabl the lower portion of the mass will be.` dried first andsome parts, owing to the difliculty in transmitting the heat toI allparts un1formly, will be injured during the drying operation so thatconsiderable loss will result..

During the first stages of drying when the material containsconsiderable moisture the temperature of the coils within thecompartment 27 must be considerably higher than that required for thematerial itself in order to produce the desired result but as themoisture of the blocks is removed the temperture ot' the material willgradually increase or more nearly approach the' temperature of thedrying medium and the drier the material becomes the more nearly perfectthe same becomes as a medium for transmitting the heat to the materialthereabove.

It is desirable to surround or to subject the material that is to bedried to the action of a tempered fluid of relatively lower temperaturethan that of the fluid emanating from the chamber 27 and because thiscooler fluid which will be referred to as the tempering fluid, has atendency to settle, it is preferable to admit such at a. point or pointsnear the top of the casing or near the top ot the pile of materialthereinthus to insure a more through contact with'all of the material.The supplying rot' said' cooler fluid to the casing'may be eiected in'gnumenous waysI for example in Fig. l aretshown partitions '53,and 54',arranged along opposite sidesof the casing at predetermined distancesfrom the inner walls `3. At the bottom of the spaces formed between thepartitions 53 and 54 and the adjacent; inner walls of the casing areplaced ducts 55 and 56 respectively, each having perforations 57distributed throughout the length to insure a uniform distribution ofthe `fluid into the passages formed by the partitions 53. and 54.

The ducts 55 and 56 extend through the wall of the casing and connectwith the header 39' herenbefore referred to from which said ,ductsreceive tempered air or other suitable fluid, the temperature whereof isvaried to suit the particular purpose for which it is to be employed, bythe operr ation of dampers 53 and 54 in the pipes 44 and 45. Dampers 58and 59 are arranged near the outer end of the header 39 and may beoperated to cut off the supply of tempered air orl fluid to one or theother or both of the ducts 55 and 56.

In drying green or wet material a vapor is often produced withinthecasing which creates a heav blanket through which it is dilicult toorce the drying medium to carry the moisture from the casing. To preventthis blanket of moisture from retarding the drying operations, theartitions 53 and 54 are extended to di erent heights-for example thepartition 53 extends only to about 1/3 the height of the portion of thecasing containing the material to be dried and therefore, during thestarting of the drying of green or wet material the hot drying materialmay be admitted through the chamber 27 and carried upward into thedrying chamber to the level of the partition 53 and then withdrawn fromsaid chamber through the duct 55 at the side of the blanket of moisturein the casing, thus avoiding the necessity of increasing the force ofthe fluid currents sufficient to destroy said blanket. The circulationcreated by the'arrangement of intake and discharge, as just discribed,effects the gradual drying ofthe pile of material within the casing.

During the operations just described the cooler medium which is suppliedto the casing in contact with the' material to effect the drawing out ofthe moisture from the interior ofthe blocks to the exterior surfacesthereof may be supplied through the passageway formed by the partition54 which is substantially higher than the partition 53 and hence willnot interfere with the trans verse circulation 'of 'the drying mediumthrough and out of the casing over the latter partition.

There are times, during the dryingigopera-` tions when one side of thematerlal ,may dry faster than another-therefore by manipulating thedampers which control the supply ot drying fluid to the ducts 55 and 56and to the header 39 the direction of the drying fluid may be varied orits direction changed from one side to another so as to effect thedrying of all parts of the mass of material equally. For example adrying or tempering fluid may be supplied transversely of the casingeither over the par? titions 53 or over 54 or over both,"or said fluidmay be supplied through the chamber 27 to the casing and dischargedtherefrom through one or the other of the passages formed by thepartit-ions 53 and 54. To accomplish these' results dampers 60 and 61.are provided respectively i-n the pipes 40 and 4l yand dampers 62 and 63are also provided in the header 39 respectively at opposite sides of adischarge pipe 64, the

latter pipe being preferably at the center of the header 39 so that,when the damper 61 is opened and the damper 60 closed, the blower 42will vforce the fluid into the casing through the duct 56 across andaround the mass" of material to the duct 55 through which it will bedischarged through the discharge pipe 64. it being assumed that thedampers 63, 43 are closed and the dampers 58 and 62 open although saiddampers are not necessarily shown in these positions in the drawings.

Obviously the direction of flow of the fluids through the casing may bereversed by reversing the positions of said dempers in the fluid ducts.

There are occasions when it is desirable vsuddenly to increase ordecrease the temperature-of the fluid that is being supplied to yoneside `or the other of the casing through the ducts 55 and 56 just as thefluid is about to Contact with the material that is being'dried. To thisend pipes 65 and 66 are arranged respectively adjacent the tops of thepartitions 53and 54.

These pipes may be connected with any' appropriate hot or cold source ofsupply such as the brine pipe 23 or the steam supply pipe 2l.

It is of common knowledge that the dry- -ing medium or -iuid will alwaysfollow the lines of least resistance and, owing to this tendency, it i'sdifficult to dry all parts of a pile or mass of material uniformly but,by providing. means to direct currents of the drying tir-tempering fluidalong redetermined paths within the casing, a uid.

of a predetermined or desired temperature may be directed agalnst onesectlon or another of the pile and, 1n fact, against an particularportion of the pile so as to a Ll i) rance or retard the drying of thatparticular portion.

To this end the chamber 27 below the partition or floor 25 has 'beendivided into a plurality of compartments herein four 67 68, 69 and 70 bypartitions 71, 71 arranged vertically between the walls including thepipes 30 and 31 and each of these compartments will have independentcommunication with the header 39 by means of the air ducts 35, 36,37 and38 respectively controlled by the dampers 43. A

'T0 cooperate with the compartments 67, 68, 69 and 70 in producingcurrents of fluid through the drying chamber in any desired direction orangle I preferably provide at or near the top 'of the casing a series ofcompartments or ducts, herein four in number 72, 73, 74 and 75 whichextend longitudinally of the dryinr chamber and have perforations 7 6preferably in the lower walls thereof.

Communication is provided between said upper series of ducts and anappropriate fluidsupply or discharging means in numerous ways but hereinI have shown communication .between said ducts and the blower 42, theduets l7 2 and 73 belng connected through branch pi es 77 and 78 and acommon supply pipe 79 with the conductor 41', appropriate dampers beingprovided in said pipes so that the supply of air to and from one or bothof the ducts 72 and 7 3 may ed. The ducts 74 and 75 are similarlyconnected through pipes 80 and 8l which unite in a pipe 82 communicatingwith the conductor 40, appropriate dampers being arranged in these pipeswhereby communicabe regulatdrying chamber at substantially any angle vto any one or all of the ducts 72, 73, 74 and 75 and likewise fluid maybe admitted through lany of the latter ducts and carried downwardly anddischarged through any one of the compartments 67, 68, 69 and 70 orcurrents of the fluid may be discharged from any one of the aforesaidducts or compartments into the casing and be delivered or dischargedfrom the casing through the ducts 55 and 56 or vice versa.

At times in the operation of the drying apparatus when the drying mediumis heavily laden with moisture there is a tendency for it to deposit or'release, lby condensation, somev of its load upon the walls ofthe'drying chamber. An increase in the temperature of said drying mediumlwill often prevent this condensation and assist the moisture ladenmedium to pass off from the casing and to this end, means' have beenprovided for tempering said drying medium or forincreasing thetemperature tliereof as the case may be which means preferably consistsof a `coil ofy pipe 85 arranged near the roof orat-l'eastinthe upper`part of the apparatus, and these pipes may receive-their supply of fluidfrom any desired source such, for example. as the steam supply pipe 2lor, if `desired,vsaid pipevS maybe used to vfor naturally during thedrying operations where hot air is used it collects at the top of thechamberand is much hotter at that point than at the lower part 'but bysupplying the cool air at the top the temperature throughout thecasingmay be kept nearer uniform.

Access to the interior of the casing may be through doors of anyappropriate size or shape placed at convenient locations but herein Ihave shown openings for this purpose in the front wall'of the casing at86 and 87.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that a uniformtemperature may,

by reason of the double walls, of the casing, y

rials that are being 4dried or from the other sources provided, or fromthe fluid that is being admitted at the sides of the mass of materialand that substantially any combination of air currents or fluid currentsmay be effected within the casing to edect the drying of selectedsections of the mass so that by a careful manipulation of the variousinstrumentalities the drying of the entireI mass may be brought tocompletion at the same or substantially the same time without loss ofmaterial or unnecessary waste of time.

1. In a drying apparatus a'casing having double spaced walls formingfluid containing chambers and means located within said chambers totemper fluid in said chambers. l

2. In a drying apparatus, a casing, a series of fluid containincompartments formed within the walls o said casing and means locatedwithin said compartments independently to temper fluid in the severalcompartments.

3. In a drying apparatus, a casing having double spaced walls, the spacebetween said walls being partitioned to form independent compartments,and means located within said compartments, for heating each of saidcompartments. v

4. A. drying apparatus comprising, in combination, a casing, al supportfor the material to be dried, means to supply a drying medium ofredetermined temperature from beneath sa1d material and means to supplycounter fluid currents of predeterminded'temperature to said material.

5. A dryingl apparatus comprising, in combination, a caslng, a supportfor the material to be dried, means to supply a drying medium ofpredetermined temperature against the material and means to directtempered currents of fluid transversely of I said casing.

6. A drying apparatus comprising, in combination, a casing, a supportfor the material to be dried, means to supply a drying medium of,lpredetermined temperature against the material and means to directtempered currents of fluid in either direction across said casing.

7. A drying apparatus comprising, in

combination, a casing having a drying chamber, means to maintain auniform temperature upon all sides of said drying chamber, means tosupply drying fluid to said casing, and means to su ply additionaltemperature to said drying uidafter the same has become laden withmoisture, to assist in discharging it from said casing.

8. A drying apparatus comprising, in combination, a casin having adrying chamber, means to maintain a uniform temprature upon all sides ofsaid drying chamr, regardless of prevailing atmospheric conditionsoutside of said casing, means to 9. A drying apparatus comprisin incombination, a casing having a drying c amber, means to suppl a tempereddrying fluid to said drying c amber, means to prevent the condensationof moisture upon the 'walls 4of said drying chamber, and means toincrease the temperature of the moistureladen d ing fluid to effect itsdischarge from sai casing. I

10. In a drying apparatus, a casing, a perforated support for thematerial to be dried, and means to supply heated drying.r fluid to saidcasingthrough said perforated support including two headers arrangedbeneath said support, one upon the other, and pipes extending laterallyfrom each of said headers, the outer ends of the pipes from one of saidheaders being coupled with the other ends of the pipes from the otherheader.

1.1. In a drying apparatus, a casing and means to supply and directcounter currents of tempered fluid to predetermined parts of saidcasing.

12. In a drying apparatus, a casin and means to direct inde endentcurrents o drying fluid to selecte arts of the mass of materiallarranged witlliin said casing to be dried.

13. In a drying apparatus, a casing, means to directcounter currents ofdrying fluid upward through any selected parts of said casing, and meansto supply and direct tempering fluid downward throughany selected vparts of said casing.

' 14. In a drying apparatus, a casing and means simultaneously to supplyindependent currents of drying and tempering fluid tol different partsof said casing.

l15. In a drying apparatus, a casing and mea-ns simultaneously to supplyindependent currents of drying and tem ering fluids to predeterminedarts of sai casing.

16. In a drying apparatus, a casing and means simultaneously to supplyinde endent currents of drying and tempering uids to ldifferentpredetermined parts of said casing.

17. In a drying apparatus, a casing, means to supply .drying uid throughthe br-ttom of sa1d casing and means to supply tempered fluid fromselected points at the top and A sides of said casing.

18. In a drying apparatus, a casing provided with a series of fluidducts at the bottom thereof, a second series of fluid ducts at the topof said casing, means to supply tempered fluid to each of said fluidducts independently of the other, and means to eflll) lai

feet the passage of said Huid from any one of the lower series to anyone of the upper series of ducts.

19. In a drying apparatus, a casing rovided with. a series of Huid ductsat the ttom thereof, a second series of fluid ducts at thetop of saidcasing, means to supply tempered Huid to each. of said iuid ductsindependently of the other and means to effeet the passage of uid fromthe ducts of one of said series to those of the other of said series.

20. In a drying apparatus, a easing provided with a series ofindependent fluid ducts at the bottom thereof, a second series ofindependent iuidl ductsat the top of said casing, means to supplytempered Huid to each of said Huid ducts, and means to effect thepassage of fluid from the ducts of one of said series to those of theother of said seIrl'ies. d

21. a ryin a aratus, a casin rovided with a segriespof independentg uidducts. at the bottom thereof, a second series of independent iiuid ductsat the top of said casing, means `to supply tempered iiuid to each ofsaid Huid ducts, and means to effect. the passage of Huid from selectedducts of one of said series to selected ducts of the other series.

` In testimony whereof, I have signed my name tovthis specification.

FREDERICK A. SECORD.

